Chic on a Shoestring is your entrée into the world of high fashion that will inspire you to create your own covetable clothes and accessories. Learn to transform ornate trims and vintage buttons into spectacular brooches, craft a favorite silk scarf into a chic top, or rework flea market shoes into fashionable showstoppers. With more than 40 unique and stylish ideas—including quick and easy no-sew projects—Chic on a Shoestring will inspire first-time and experienced crafters alike.

"Chic On a Shoestring is about investment dressing for the discount decade: a practical how-to guide for women who find they have less time and money to spend on clothing, shoes, and accessories, but a greater desire and need to dress better in their professional and personal lives."--Back cover.

Extraordinary style for less.

Bag the bargains and glam it up--go from frumpy to fabulous style without wounding your wallet! Everyone knows a woman who turns heads with her captivating style. Her clothes fit her body perfectly, her use of color is compelling, her shoes are to die for, and her accessories make her whole outfit pop with panache. Is she a fashion-industry insider? A millionaire? If she's smart, chances are she's a value vixen who's learned which styles best fit her figure, how to navigate the sales rack, and how to put together a look that's fashionably fabulous. With Style on a Shoestring as your guide, you willl learn how to have a great "cents of style"-without breaking the bank. This book teaches you the skills to give yourself a complete makeover, including: How to make a $5 thrift-store find look like a $500 designer deal Getting wardrobe wreckers out of your closet and reworking the frocks you already have Finding the right denim, bra, tops-even the dreaded bathing suit--for your body What time, day, and month to pounce on the best bargains Which colors minimize figure flaws and showcase the good stuff

Hess provides 101 tips on living the luxe life without spending a fortune. You can reinvent what you already own, seek out little luxuries, and simply buy better.

After working as a stylist in Paris, Elizabeth Hawes (1903–71) launched one of the first American design houses in Depression-era New York. Hawes was an outspoken critic of the fashion industry and a champion of ready-to-wear styles. Fashion Is Spinach, her witty and astute memoir, offers an insider's critique of the fashion scene during the 1920s and '30s. "I don't know when the word fashion came into being, but it was an evil day," Hawes declares. Style, she maintains, reflects an era's mood, altering only with changes in attitude and taste. Fashion, conversely, exists only to perpetuate sales. Hawes denounces the industry's predatory practices, advising readers to reject ever-changing fads in favor of comfortable, durable, flattering attire. Decades ahead of her time, she offers a fascinating and tartly observed behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry's economics, culture, and ethics.